Dats Sum Good Cornbread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter 2/3 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2.	Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Amish Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 2 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 18 tablespoons warm water

DIRECTIONS

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select White Bread cycle; press Start.

2. When the dough has raised once and second cycle of kneading begins, turn machine off. Reset by pressing Start once again. This gives the dough two full raising cycles before the final raising cycle prior to baking.

Butternut Squash Bisque

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 cup diced onion 3/4 cup diced carrots 4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

3 cups vegetable stock salt and ground black pepper to taste ground nutmeg to taste 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions:

1.	Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil under tender.
2.	Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.
3.	In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg.

French Baguettes

Ingredients:

1 cup water 2 1/2 cups bread flour 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1.	Place 1 cup water, bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start.
2.	When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3.	Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
4.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.
5.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Homemade Tomato Soup

  Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth.

Comfort Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons shortening 3/4 cup milk

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2.	In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the shortening and mix until in little pieces. Add milk a little at a time and mix until it forms a ball.
3.	Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Cut out in desired size and dip in melted shortening. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.
4.	Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup...the Real Deal

Ingredients

• 1 (3 to 4-pound) whole chicken
• 1 quart chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 quarts water
• 2 medium onions, quartered
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 5 or 6 parsley stems
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces whole button mushrooms, quartered
• 1/2 cup diced onions
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup small-diced celery
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pound dried vermicelli noodles
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Place the chicken in a large stockpot or Dutch oven and cover with the chicken stock and 2 quarts water. Add the onion quarters, roughly chopped carrots and celery, thyme, parsley stems, and the bay leaf. Bring mixture to a boil, partially cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. The chicken should easily pull away from the bones.

Using tongs, remove the chicken from the broth and set aside until cool enough to handle. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine-meshed sieve, lined with cheesecloth, discarding the vegetables and reserving the stock. Pull the chicken meat off the bones, discarding the bones, skin, and any fat. Shred and reserve meat.

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the diced onions, carrots, and celery and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in reserved cooked chicken. Add reserved chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat.

Season the soup with salt and pepper. Add vermicelli and simmer until noodles are cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in parsley. Serve hot.

Homemade Tortillas

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons lard 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

1.	Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
2.	Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.

Mexican Corn Chowder

One of my favorite soups yet!!! 

Mexican Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 clove garlic, minced 3 tablespoons butter 2 cubes chicken bouillon 1 cup hot water 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups half-and-half cream 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles 1 dash hot pepper sauce 1 tomato, chopped fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1.	In a Dutch oven, brown chicken, onion, and garlic in butter until chicken is no longer pink.
2.	Dissolve the bouillon in hot water; Pour into Dutch oven, and season with cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3.	Stir in cream, cheese, corn, chilies, and hot pepper sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted. Stir in chopped tomato. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Homemade Tortillas!